Team India adopted three spinners and two pacers strategy in the 1st Test against Sri Lanka at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. With two pacers included in the playing XI, the management had to bench Mohammed Siraj.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are still India’s first-choice pacers, considering the amount of success they have earned in the last few years. They have been an integral part of the side as India have dominated the red-ball format in the last four-five years.
Thus, Mohammed Siraj had to sit out given captain Rohit Sharma going in with only two outright fast bowlers. However, the fans were not happy to see Siraj warm the benches yet again. The pacer from Hyderabad has been travelling with the squad for the last few months; however, has got only a handful of chances.
Here are some reactions:
Siraj Deserve better and better 😢
He deserves in playing 11He didn't get place in t20 now test unbelievable 😢 #sirajhttps://t.co/mFR0TPGzZu pic.twitter.com/M7VXViZPE7
— Shamsi (MSH) (@Shamsihaidri1) March 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/Lostt_Soulll/status/1499590444543459328?s=20&t=TelEOUU3pqUfzUJhtazrhw
Siraj not in playing 11 😭…We want him back in playing 11 🥺#Cricket #INDvsSL#RCB pic.twitter.com/P3TP6xkCQr
— Het Patel (@phet07524) March 4, 2022
With @Hanumavihari & @ShreyasIyer15 available as part spin options maybe we could have gone for 3rd seamer in Siraj #INDvsSL
— Rahul Prakash 🇮🇳 (@RahulPrakash9) March 4, 2022
I am more disappointed with siraj not playing and jayant yadav playing 😥
— kaustubh padwal (@kaustubh_padwal) March 4, 2022
Why not siraj in teamXI .
— Mohammad Aarif🇮🇳 (@MdAarif700) March 4, 2022
The real reason why Siraj is benched 😔 pic.twitter.com/EluqDoJAOD
— Majnu Bhai (@TenShagger) March 4, 2022
Siraj not making the XI today makes sense, I don't think the same for the LOI games tho but India have played a similar template offlate with two pacers and three spinners in Tests and they were going to continue. Ofc, Shami and Bumrah still ahead in this format when fit.
— Prashanth S (@ps_it_is) March 4, 2022
The surface in Mohali also has a bit of grass on it, as per the pitch report from Russell Arnold and Deep Dasgupta. This further raises the question as to why Mohammed Siraj wasn’t included.
Meanwhile, speaking of the game, Sri Lanka have bounced back after Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal got India off to a rollicking start. Opting to bat first, Indian openers enjoyed the new ball coming on to the bat and played their strokes.
Rohit in particular unleashed his shots and got true value for it. Just when things were flowing smoothly for the Indian captain, Rohit holed a short delivery to Suranga Lakmal at the deep fine leg.
Reeling at 52/1, Hanuma Vihari joined Mayank Agarwal in the middle and duo started the rebuilding process before the latter was trapped in front after a good start, scoring 33 runs.
The spotlight will be on Virat Kohli, who is playing his 100th Test. He will be looking to score a century to celebrate the landmark in Mohali.
